The present invention relates generally to heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems for automotive vehicles and, in particular, to a control and pressure relief valve for relieving pressure from an automotive vehicle interior to an atmospheric pressure outside the vehicle interior.
Automotive HVAC systems provide cooled or heated pressurized air to an automotive vehicle interior and typically include a control valve to relieve pressure from within the vehicle interior to atmospheric pressure during operation of the HVAC system to control air flow in the automotive vehicle interior and keep the automotive interior pressure and atmospheric pressures substantially balanced. The control valves of the HVAC systems, however, are disadvantageously not able to relieve pressure quickly when the automotive interior pressure rises quickly, such as when a door, a deck lid, or the like is closed.
It is desirable, therefore, to provide a valve to relieve pressure from the automotive interior during operation of the of the HVAC system and when the automotive interior pressure rises quickly.